Sleeping Next to You
by mikumikuderp
Summary: Meiko's drinking problem has gotten out of hand, and Kaito is the only one she confesses her addiction to. Angsty KaiMei/MeiKai fluff.


Her footsteps padded across the carpet, the faint contact of her foot and the floor being the only sound in the desolate house. She crept quietly as to not disturb a soul, as to keep her existence a secret, to masquerade as just a simple mouse scurrying so no one would bother with the disturbance. Her breaths were long and deep, bringing a soothing tranquility to the woman trying to walk across the house without waking anyone. She raised her fist and knocked on a door, an entrance to a forbidden room, a room where everything important to her was kept safe and soundly. The sound was louder than expected, and she paused, holding her breath.

No rustling or waking was heard.

With relief, she grabbed the knob and twisted it gently. The door creaked open as she entered, and she cringed, the sounds grating on her sanity.

"…Meiko?"

Meiko froze, imitating a statue's stance. Her heart sped up rapidly and thundered in her chest. She looked in front of her, at the source of the sound, at her guardian and savior, and saw his eyes flutter open. Kaito sat up groggily, in a sleepy daze, and stared at the woman in front of him.

"H-hello, Kaito," Meiko murmured, her voice soft and sweet. "I need to talk to you," she pleaded, her eyes begging. Kaito understood and did not utter any complaints about his friend waking him at three in the morning. He solemnly patted the spot next to him on the bed and ushered her forth. Meiko complied and dragged her feet to the other side of the bed. She sat down and hugged her knees to her chest, her breathing growing hoarse.

"Say all you need to say," Kaito said faintly, pushing off the blankets from his body and turning to face her. He swiped at his eyes in an attempt to rid his eyes of drowsiness, trying not to fall victim to the clutches of sleep whilst Meiko was talking.

Meiko nodded and opened her mouth to speak, "…I'm not getting any better, Kaito," she whispered in a hushed tone, her voice barely audible. "In fact, I'm getting worse." her face fell, and her brown eyes dulled in depression.

"How so?" Kaito inquired, worried. He reached for her hand, but Meiko pulled away and wrapped her arms around her legs once again. Kaito brushed off the rejection and didn't think of it.

"I'm drinking more," Meiko uttered, the anger at herself that had been bottled up inside spilling out. Her self-pity was drowning her, was consuming her, and she couldn't stop it. Her addiction has taken control of her life and she couldn't bring herself to tell anyone until now. "I'm d-drinking every night," she stuttered, struggling to get the words out. A veil of bitter coldness and pain was covering Meiko, and she couldn't rid herself of the turmoil lurking in her mind and heart.

"Why?" Kaito asked, his deep aqua eyes exemplifying fear and anxiety.

"I don't know," Meiko shook her head and looked down at her feet to not show Kaito she was about to burst. All of this self-hatred had been inside her for so long that she felt like she might explode in a fit of tears. "I really don't know. It never was this bad, back when drinking had been the occasional night with Haku at the bar, and now it's every night. Every night I found myself turning to the bottle of sake for comfort, because I couldn't…I couldn't…"

Meiko let one feeble tear roll down her cheek.

"Talk to you."

"Why not, Meiko?" Kaito asked, reaching for her hand again. This time, Meiko recoiled and used it to wipe the incoming tears that started cascading from her eyes. They fell in a pace that Meiko had not cried so intensely before, and she was scared. Meiko never cried.

Crying was for the weak.

"I don't know!" Meiko cried, burying her face in her hands. "It's too addicting. I don't even like the taste anymore. It tastes awful, yet I drink it because it makes life easier…"

Kaito stared, wide-eyes. Meiko had never cried so hard in front of him before. It was so paralyzingly shocking that he didn't even know what to say. He just wanted to wrap his arms around her, tell her it was alright, and never let her go. Never let the world harm her, never let the addiction control her, never let her out of his sight. Kaito's hands tingled with the yearning for comforting the distressed friend in front of him, but he stopped himself.

"Meiko," he grasped her shoulders instead. "You don't need sake to make life feel better,"

Meiko looked up at him. "You are strong, Meiko. Sake is just a distraction. A burden, an obstacle you have yet to overcome. Meiko, you don't need it. I'm going to make it alright," Kaito said clearly, looking her straight in the eyes. "I'm going to help you,"

"How do you expect to do that?" Meiko sniffled, reaching for a tissue from the nearby tissue box on Kaito's nightstand.

"We're going to do it together, you and I," Kaito decided. "We'll remove all the sake from the house and start with that, then we'll slowly terminate the problem, together,"

Meiko nodded once again. Silence ensued as she blew her nose and just continued staring at the bed sheet. The bed sheet with patterns of cartoon ice cream. She giggled to Kaito's shock and leapt to embrace him. Meiko tackled him in a hug and the two lay there, Meiko on top of him, laughing. "Thank you, Kaito," Meiko chirped warmly, her mood improving. "You're the best therapist anyone could ever ask for," she decided.

"And you're the best friend anyone could ever ask for," Kaito complimented, running his fingers through Meiko's hair. Meiko blushed, her face turning a bright pink. "Let's go to sleep," he chuckled, reaching to turn the light off. Meiko proceeded to get up and hopped off the bed feeling lighter than air, but Kaito grabbed her arm to Meiko's surprise. "You're staying here," Kaito said, pulling her back onto the bed. Meiko blushed harder and laid back down on the bed. Kaito pulled the covers over them, and before Meiko could say anything else, Kaito was back to lightly snoring and sleeping. She glanced at her best friend and smiled.

He was her angel, best friend…and her lover


End file.
